Jujitsudave
Mongoose
I love any game company that supports Lone Wolf, Conan and this system. I'd love you more if you had boobies.
Legend Unveiled
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
Jujitsudave
Mongoose
"Faction" sounds nice. (OOPS Wrong thread)
Lord Kruge
Mongoose
Piperdog said:
Matt said they are going with the unveiled cover.
BTW, I happen to rather like breasts myself, and am quite happy with the breasts of the girl on the left, unfortunately, I think I may have just committed a crime in admitting such.:twisted: The only "offense" taken is that against sub-standard art. :roll:
Still, if that art demo's well with the target audience of younger gamers, go for it, but some kid picks up Legend thinking he's about to play a WoW-like game and gets his left arm chopped off in the first combat, it might be a little jarring. :shock:
I'll definitely shell out $20 for the Black Special Edition cover, want my preorder now?
As it stands, the cover as is will prevent me from purchasing a hardcopy. I already have the hardcover RQII books, so I don't really need it. I will definitely pick up the pdf, because I can print it out and bind it without a cover, lol. Now if i see this alternate black cover available, I will pick up three or four and pass them out to my group (which are all middle-aged professionals that fit that particular "persnickety" fan base!)
BTW, if you are going for the younger game group with that cover, my son, who is a 16 year old gamer, walked by when I was looking at it and said "Geez, that is LAME, dad. What is that for?" So I told him it was the new cover for an rpg, and he shook his head and said "Who would ever pick up that stupid thing?" He laughed and left the room.
Please understand I am not slamming it, just stating what my son said in passing. Unfortunately, books DO get judged by their cover more often than not, whether accurate or not, and that is just too bad, because the guts of this thing rock.
BTW, if you are going for the younger game group with that cover, my son, who is a 16 year old gamer, walked by when I was looking at it and said "Geez, that is LAME, dad. What is that for?" So I told him it was the new cover for an rpg, and he shook his head and said "Who would ever pick up that stupid thing?" He laughed and left the room.
Please understand I am not slamming it, just stating what my son said in passing. Unfortunately, books DO get judged by their cover more often than not, whether accurate or not, and that is just too bad, because the guts of this thing rock.
danskmacabre
Mongoose
I'm also up for a copy of the special edition.
Thumbs up for the "special edition" cover from me too. Its not that I'm against art on covers (the centaur pic is great) and even boobies (I have a great affection for RQ2 (and boobies)) but in the right place and I'd kinda hoped things had moved on from the early eighties.
I really can't see a system with the unveiled cover being looked back on in 30 years with a "now that was a classic" feel. Humble apologies to the artist (its better than I could do) but its just not a very good picture and really doesn't live up to what the name implies or the system within. It is totally uninspiring and, I'd agree with previous posts, slightly embarrassing for the more mature gamers amongst us (particularly as I want to introduce my kids to this system. A classic rpg doesn't need poor imitations of page 3 girls, it needs art that conveys the spirit of the game).
Despite Matt's stance I think it would be a great shame and a mistake to go with the original proposal. If this is going to be one of Mongooses flagship systems then the book needs to portray that if its going to thrive as a system. A poor choice of art, both on the cover and inside, can make the difference between a sale despite the content. After all there are several BRP-type alternatives out there at the moment. At the end of the day, I just want Legend to be up there with RQ2 and Stormbringer5 - you've got the mechanics, just need the killer presentation.
I really can't see a system with the unveiled cover being looked back on in 30 years with a "now that was a classic" feel. Humble apologies to the artist (its better than I could do) but its just not a very good picture and really doesn't live up to what the name implies or the system within. It is totally uninspiring and, I'd agree with previous posts, slightly embarrassing for the more mature gamers amongst us (particularly as I want to introduce my kids to this system. A classic rpg doesn't need poor imitations of page 3 girls, it needs art that conveys the spirit of the game).
Despite Matt's stance I think it would be a great shame and a mistake to go with the original proposal. If this is going to be one of Mongooses flagship systems then the book needs to portray that if its going to thrive as a system. A poor choice of art, both on the cover and inside, can make the difference between a sale despite the content. After all there are several BRP-type alternatives out there at the moment. At the end of the day, I just want Legend to be up there with RQ2 and Stormbringer5 - you've got the mechanics, just need the killer presentation.
Lord Kruge
Mongoose
I think the best description of the cover I've heard was by Akrasia who called it "aggressively vapid".
I prefer the Special Edition cover myself and I think it says quite a lot that most people here on the forum seem to agree no cover art is better than poor cover art. Even the logo on the SE cover is MUCH better than the other one.
It really makes me wonder if the first cover is intentionally poorly done in order to get more people to buy the SE version just so they won't have to look at that cringe-worthy cover. Could be a smart marketing ploy if it works.
It really makes me wonder if the first cover is intentionally poorly done in order to get more people to buy the SE version just so they won't have to look at that cringe-worthy cover. Could be a smart marketing ploy if it works.
Mongoose_Will
Mongoose
Art is subjective and there is a difference between poor art and art that is not to your tastes.
Heading to the Tate Gallery and ripping a Picasso to shreds because its poor is hardly going to stop it selling for millions of $$$
If it evokes the right responses from the right people then its a success regardless of what the critics think.
Although we do understand that should the cover not be to everyones tastes an alternative is a good option to ensure that we do not isolate a large portion of the fanbase.
We do listen and we welcome any constructive critism on our Art Direction.
Heading to the Tate Gallery and ripping a Picasso to shreds because its poor is hardly going to stop it selling for millions of $$$
If it evokes the right responses from the right people then its a success regardless of what the critics think.
Although we do understand that should the cover not be to everyones tastes an alternative is a good option to ensure that we do not isolate a large portion of the fanbase.
We do listen and we welcome any constructive critism on our Art Direction.
Redcrow said:
I don't think so - that's not the impression I get. I think they are genuinely trying to respond to the opinions expressed here, but perhaps also feel loyalty to the artist so they don't want to abandon the original cover. (Understandable if that's the case, but mistaken in my view.)
Matthew didn't mention any addional cost for an alternative cover. To be honest I don't think I'd pay that much extra for it - if it was more than a couple of bucks I'd just buy the cheaper one and cover it or something!
I'm kind of worried that this cover reflects the overall art direction of the product. What is the interior going to look like?! I guarantee if it looks ugly inside, with borders on every page and images behind the text, I won't be buying it. That stuff has prevented me from buying several Mongoose things previously (Conan, Hawkmoon..).
Mikko Leho
Mongoose
torus said:
Most likely the project is already at its way to the printer and changing the cover would upset the release schdedule or is already impossible.
Mongoose_Will said:
Art evokes strong responses and it's not always easy to disentangle those two things.
But I think people have expressed their opinion on both. Regarding taste, it seems to me Mongoose have chosen a style appropriate for a younger market segment, for a product with a substantially older fan base. As well as depicting very young looking characters, the style and content is cartoony rather than realistic, and that is at odds with how many RQ/Legend players see the tone of their game.
Regarding the quality of the art, I don't think it is particularly well executed: the poses are static and awkward and the composition is two-dimensional. There is little drama or narrative in the image, beyond wondering why the guy at the front seems a bit upset. I think the artist was trying to represent characters in iconic poses, like an old movie poster, but it hasn't really worked. Instead of the sepia tones contributing to a 'legendary' atmosphere, it looks more like an unfinished sketch. The girl on the left looks like she's waiting for a bus.
Mongoose_Will said:
Agreed. I suppose it all boils down to whether you think the people who post on these (and other) forums are representative of your customers. If "yes", I think the customers have spoken but it looks like you're going to largely ignore them. If the answer is "no", well let's hope you know your wider customer base well.
If you have misjudged this, the next question is whether it will make any appreciable impact on your sales. Since you have RQ6 breathing down your neck, I suspect in this particular case it might very well have an adverse effect.
Good luck.
Stainless said:
I really hope that we are not.
Stainless said:
I think that most of the people here will buy it anyway but will complain about it.
Some people will refuse to buy it on principle.
Some people will buy it and like everything about it.
Stainless said:
I don't think it will affect sales much. Most people who play RQ or will play Legend don't post on online forums.
RQ might make a difference, but those diehards amongst us will probably buy both.
Settings will make more of a difference - I haven't bought an Elric supplement for a long while, mainly because I realised that I didn't care for the setting much (although I love the books). I might buy Deus Vult supplements as PDFs and will probably buy any Alternate Earth settings as well.
alex_greene
Guest
That cover has a good feeling to it. I think the sepia tone effect works; and the highlighting of the logo as the only item in the image with colour makes it stand out.
medievaladventures
Banded Mongoose
Mongoose_Will said:
Please hire artists who produce art similar to what Angus McBride did for Osprey or to what Mariusz Kozik is doing.
